The Waters Of Love
by Kawaii Overdose
Summary: He was just doing his mission, and he left for one minute to chase after one of the people whom he was spying on... And he soon found that water is their common bond, as well as her last tie to life. [DemyxAerith, implied XigbarYuffie]
1. An Arm For A What?

**Hello, one and all! Welcome to another one of _Kawaii Overdose_'s messed up, fluffy Demyx fics! WOO!**

**Anyway, this is just a little idea I came up with not too long ago. If you like it, I would advise you to put it on your Alert list right away. I don't plan on working on it at a constant pace, as _Kingdom Hearts: Advent Children_ and _The Melody That Never Was_ are my top priorities at the moment, but if I ever do update this, you'll know. And now that you know that... please don't yell at me for not updating. I gave you a reason, please don't forget it.**

**Enjoy!**

_Demyx, Xigbar and all related characters are (c) to Nomura, Disney, and Squeenix_

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_...This is a story that takes place on Hollow Bastion... a world well on its way to its former glory..._

_...It is a story that is spectacular in some ways, and at the same time, quite ordinary..._

_...And it begins... with two cloaked men... on a roof..._

**_xXxXxXxXx_**

"...Xig?"

"Yeah, dude?"

"Why are we doing this again?"

Xigbar sighed. "Man Demyx, you're such a spaz. We're here to keep tabs on that Restoration Commitee."

"I know _that_." Demyx replied curtly. "I just wanna know why _we're_ doing it and not trying to stop the Keybearer kid like the others."

"Oh." Xigbar said. "I guess Xemmy thinks we can find that kid's weakness through these chumps. No clue why we're the ones doing it though."

Demyx sighed. Things had been like this for the past few weeks now. Everyday he and Xigbar would go to Hollow Bastion and spy on all these people. What a stupid idea, he thought. They didn't even know any of these Restoration guys!

Well, that wasn't _entirely_ true; he and Xigbar had made nicknames for all the members so it was easier to remember. The guy with the long brown hair was named "Wingy", due to the small red wings printed on the back of his black jacket. The short haired girl with the headband was "Ninja", since on many occasion they had seen her practice with a shuriken. The other guy with the short blonde hair was "Toothpick"; he always seemed to have one in his mouth. And the really old guy with the beard was simply "Old Guy".

The only one they did not name yet was _her_. She was a beautiful brunette, her slimming figure showing through her pink and white dress. At first, she was just "Pinky", a name Demyx came up with and thought was easy to remember, but Xigbar argued that it wasn't "creative" enough. After that, she was "Bo", since they had seen her cleaning off and practicing with an old metal bo staff in her room, but the two Nobodies both agreed it made her sound like she was a guy. Then her name was "Healy" for her healing techniques, but then there was fighting over how to spell said name. Finally, they discovered her love of flowers, making her name "Marluxia's Ideal Girlfriend", but when they remembered that Marluxia was dead and they could get no milage out of it, they gave up and called her "No-Name".

Now, Demyx never liked these tab-missions, but if he had to spy on anybody, he'd spy on No-Name. She had to be the sanest one of the Restoration Commitee (which said a lot about the Commitee, and he had good reason to believe that after he and Xiggy were nearly stabbed by Ninja's wayward shuriken), and she was also very social, much more so than Wingy. She had youth at her side as opposed to Old Guy, and she didn't speak in a somewhat annoying accent like Toothpick. And she was so pretty as well...

"Dem! No-Name's makin' a break for it!"

Xigbar's yell caused Demyx to leave the realm of fantasy and back into reality. He looked back to the door. No-Name wasn't trying to escape like Xig had made it sound; by the small basket of flowers in her hand, it seemed like she was just going on some errands, probably to sell said aromic plants.

"You want me to go after her?" Demyx asked his superior.

"Why not? You never seem t' have anythin' better t' do than stare at 'er anyway." Xigbar laughed, slapping the Nocturne on the back.

Demyx grumbled; he knew full well that he shouldn't look at No-Name all the time, especially with Xiggy around to poke fun at him. But then again, the Freeshooter wasn't one to talk. He _had_ been keeping his good eye on Ninja _a lot_ lately... creep. Oh well. It was Ninja's problem, not his.

Demyx hopped down from the roof of the building, landing in the alleyway as to not grab the attention of his prey. He silently followed after No-Name, hiding in the shadows, until they reached the abbey. It wasn't like No-Nae had noticed her wannabe-stalker when she got there, and even if she did, Demyx would always just rip up a portal and run like a maniac. Or he could do as the Legend of Zelda games had taught him: "When in doubt, play a song. It won't do anything, but the enemy will think you're too crazy to attack".

But no, instead, the Heartless had instead taken this shining opprotunity to come out of their little corner of darkness for din-din on No-Name's heart. They were two of Demyx's favorite types too; Soldiers and Red Jazzes. Maybe they had actually come to help him out and were just doing a terrible job at it. One could never tell.

It was your basic Heartless attack; the Soldiers surrounded the brunette, and the Red Jazzes swung in, making their not-so-little fiery bombs of almighty doom circle her as well. Being a water elemental, Demyx was about to give up his hiding spot in hopes of sending his water clones to protect poor No-Name from the transparent bombs, afterwords proceeding to run like all the Underworld was at his feet. But he soon noticed there was no need.

No-Name had removed a small metal rod from her pocket which extended like a telescope into her staff. Instead of attacking the Heartless head on, No-Name instead kept her rod close to her in deep concentration. In seconds water had slipped from the many cracks and fissures in the walls and ground and proceeded upward into a fountain. The Red Jazzes' bombs extinguished, and the said Heartless portaled out before they too suffered the same fate.

Demyx was in absolute awe as he watched from a safe distance, a wide grin growing on his face. He _knew_ No-Name was special! He just found someone like him! Someone who resorted to their element than just sheer hack-n-slash techniques. _And_ her element was water too! It was an added bonus!

It was at this point the Soldiers had began to attack. No-Name did not resort to her watery tactics. She instead twirled her staff in her hand, slamming it into one Soldier, then that Soldier into another, and so on until all Heartless in sight. No-Name swung her staff around and around, gaining enough momentum to the split second where she released the Heartless from her staff and sent them all flipping through the air like Eddie Gordo from TEKKEN when someone doesn't know how to do combos and are resorting to button mashing, far away and out of sight.

Demyx froze, his lips changing from the grin into a little 'o'. OK... maybe she _wasn't_ just like him.

Oh well. She was still a water elemental. And pretty. _Veeeery_ pretty.

This is where our little story here takes a turn. Demyx, still looking at No-Name, her back turned to him, soon saw that they were not alone. Due to No-Name's positioning, she did not see the Neo Shadow Heartless emerge from the ground and target her. Let's all think about this for a moment: Neo Shadows _never_ appear in Hollow Bastion. _EVER_. We have no idea why, but they just never do. So why is this changing now, all of a sudden, you ask? I cannot tell you for the sake of the plot, and Demyx is also unable to answer on account of he is currently running out of his hiding spot in an attempt to save No-Name's life.

"LOOK OUT!" he screamed, charging at the Heartless with sitar at hand. However, this scream only ended up in the Neo lunging at No-Name, who only turned around in time to see the black creature slash at her.

No-Name fell to the ground, though no scream of pain came from her mouth. Demyx slammed his sitar into the Neo, causing it to disapate back into the darkness from whence it came. He turned his attention to the girl on the ground. "Hey, are you al..?!" Demyx froze mid sentence as he surveyed the scene.

The Neo Shadow had sliced No-Name's arm clean off, and now the limb was lying inbetween the two as silence overcame them. That on its own was enough to freak Demyx out, but no, the freakiness did not stop there. Even more so than the amputated arm was that fact that there was no blood coming from it, or from the stump on No-Name shoulder that said arm was previously attached to. And another thing, why wasn't No-Name a Heartless yet? That swipe should have been enough to send her to Kingdom Hearts come!

Then came the freakiest bit of it all. The arm slowly melted -yes, _melted_- into a puddle of water. And arms don't usually melt into water, now do they? Added to that, the aformentioned stump where No-Name's arm once called its home began to melt away as well, down to her shoulder and most likely to continue to spread, consuming her entire body.

Demyx took this moment to finish his sentence. "...right...?"

No-Name took this moment to run.

As No-Name scrambled to her feet and ran off into the alleyway section of the abbey, Demyx stood where he was, confused. He stared back at the puddle of water that had previously been an arm, as though he expected it to jump out and latch on to his face. "Wha...What just happened?!"

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**Gasped! What is going on?! But seriously though, this entire thing will make sense when the second chapter is up... I hope.**


	2. At TwentyTwo

**I know I didn't get many reviews... but I wanted to post again... and judging from how many alerts I got in one day and the fact that this story ended up in a C2 one day after it was made has left me with the impression that a lot of people like it.**

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_...The heart is a wondorous thing... we understand so much about it, and at same time, so little..._

_...It is like the tide... always shifting... sometimes strong, sometimes weak... _

_...But perhaps... the tide and the heart... are more alike than we realize..._

**_xXxXxXxXx_**

Demyx seemed to stand at that spot in the abbey for hours, even though it was only two minutes. He had pretty much accepted the "fact" that Nobodies couldn't feel and all, but _that_ was pure insanity! How could he NOT feel shocked and frightened after that spectacle of weirdness?! It wasn't right!

Hey... wait a minute! This was huge! The Keyblade Master had an upper hand... maybe. Demyx didn't really know what to classify this as. What he did know, however, was that he had to find out more. Call it sticking to his mission, or human curiosity, he had to know.

Thankfully, the water that was dripping from No-Name's shoulder had left him a trail through the alley. The puddles became larger as the rubble increased. Demyx wondered why No-Name would come here of all places.

It wasn't long after he started wondering this that he saw that the path of puddles no longer followed the beaten out sidewalk. If they had, Demyx would have probably found No-Name in the Crystal Fissure. But no, she had decided to make things difficult for him and walk off in an unexplored part of the alley, as the puddles told.

Demyx was torn. He knew he should probably just return to his post and tell what he saw to Xigbar. But after that one... incident at the Castle when Roxas was still present, Demyx found out that everyone thought he was a druggie, and with Xiggy being Xiggy, this entire situation would be classified as "one of Demyx's psychedelic drug trips". And those puddles were getting awfully big...

"Ohhh... Why do I have to be such a nice guy...?" Demyx moaned as he began to run off the path.

The area seemed to change as the Nocturne advanced. What was once metal ground soon became dirt and sand. The pipes in the stone walls disapeared, replaced by tall pillars crumbling at the bases, some of them already knocked down.

But there was one building that was realtively unaffected. It appeared to be a simple wooden church, and though there was a large hole in its ceiling, its still retained its holy look. And by the pool of water at the doorway, Demyx safely assumed that No-Name had taken refuge there.

He hid beneath one of the chruches broken windows, carefully peering up as to not be seen. He saw No-Name, kneeling in front of a pool of water, surrounded by the same flowers in her basket. She appeared extremely relieved to be in this place, and cast a glance back at her shoulder. No-Name dipped her hand into the crystal clear pool and rubbed her wet hand on her other side. The water attached to the air space as she molded out a new arm for herself, that arm staying transparent until No-Name wiped it with a rag, the arm now back to its peach color.

Demyx slumped back down beside the wall. "This is sci-fi..." he gasped.

"Hey!"

The Nocturne slowly looked up, his blue eyes meeting green ones.

No-Name was standing right above him, her head through the glass deprived window. Demyx was at a loss for words. She couldn't have heard him, right?!

"Are you going to come in or what?" she asked.

"Ah... but... you... arm... water... za?"

No-Name smiled. "You're funny." Soon after, her head retreated back inside the church.

It took a minute or two before Demyx's mind registered what happened, and it wasn't that fact that he had been found. He was dwelling more on the fact that a very pretty girl had found him, smiled at him, and said he was funny. Demi-Chan must have skipped out on the process of flirting during adolescence.

His body finally started to listen to his mind's cries of "Get up, idiot!" and he found himself walking inside the church towards No-Name. She had sat back down by the pool, and patted the spot next to her in invitation. "Come on, sit." Demyx obeyed.

For another few minutes, all that was heard that the wind howling outside and the breathing of the brunette and the Nobody. Demyx would deeply inhale the scent of the flowers. It was a sweet scent... vanillia... with a hint of strawberry, maybe? Wait, what was he saying? Zexion would get all hyped up about this, not him!

"So, are you going to ask?"

No-Name's voice brought him back to conciousness. He looked at her; her eyes were halfway closed, and she was focused on the water in front of them. "...Well?" she asked again.

"Uhh..." Demyx said. "I... really don't know what to say to that, is all... arms turning into water isn't something you see everyday, ya know."

"Beings that lack hearts but have great senses of humor isn't something like that, either."

Demyx's head jerked, making No-Name smile. "Its OK. I can tell." She pointed to the pool of water. "The Life Stream lets me know."

"The... huh?"

No-Name's eyes seemed to glaze over from lost memories. "The Life Stream..." she repeated. "That's what we called the river of life that circled our planet."

"'Called'?"

No-Name looked to him. "Yes Deymx. Called."

Demyx jumped back a foot. "How'd you know my name?!"

This action caused No-Name to laugh. "I told you, the Life Stream tells me what I need to know! But in all fairness..." She calmed down and extended a hand. "I'm Aerith Gainsborough, not No-Name. Aerith"

Demyx inched back, and reluctantly shook her hand, wondering also of how she knew of the nickname. "OK... Aerith... but what did you mean by 'called'?"

"The Life Stream isn't of this world. Its from my old world, Gaia" Aerith said. "I'm the only one here who remembers it."

"But... why?"

"That... will take time to explain..."

Demyx stared at her as though he were a ten year old who had been told the family was taking a trip to a monster truck show. "You can't leave me with just knowing this Life...River... Stream thing is all-knowing. It'll drive me nuts in about 5 minutes!"

Aerith smiled. "...You're right. I can't."

And so, she told the Nocturne of her old life on Gaia. Her family was persecuted twenty days after she was born, her father killed and she and her mother taken hostage. They escaped and she was given to an adoptive mother before her real one died. Pursers constantly chased after her, but she somehow managed to avoid her. She fell in love with a man at sixteen, but he was soon killed after. At twenty she began to sell flowers to support her mother. At twenty-two she hired her old sweetheart's friend as her bodyguard, which soon led to the adventure of her life. At twenty-two she made new friends. At twenty-two she discovered what the word "Ancient" meant. At twenty-two she started to fall in love again. And at twenty-two she...

"...What happened...?" Demyx asked, the lump in his throat larger than ever.

"...I died."

Demyx paused. It was almost as though there was a large sign above his head that said 'DOES NOT COMPUTE. ILLOGICAL.' "But... dead... you... no... here... za?"

"Back to that tatic, are we?" Aerith grinned.

"But, but, but...! Aerith, are you a zombie?!"

Aerith burst out in laughter. "No, you silly little melodious idiot! I'm not one of the undead!"

"But... what are you then? If you died, but are still here?"

She sighed. "...Remember when I told you about Ancients?"

"Yeah, you said they were the closest things to the Life Stream."

"...There were a few Ancients who could interact with the living through the Life Stream." Aerith continued. "I found out that I had the ability to do so after I died. I couldn't bare to watch my friends suffer because I was dead. So I... erased their memories. I made them forget all about the fighting, all the pain and sadness, and my death. I made the whole world forget, and I brought my friends here. The Life Stream must have taken pity on me, since it allowed me to take a physical form made out of this water to be with them."

The Nocturne was shocked. "That explains... a lot... so... none of the Restoration...?"

"Oh, no! Squall and Merlin were here the whole time. It was Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie, Cid, and... Sephiroth."

"Wait... Sephiroth? _Sephiroth_?! You brought him here too?!" Demyx had a right to be freaked out. After he and Luxord had taken it upon themeselves to get Zexion an actual weapon, they tended to stay out of that part of the gorge.

"No, I didn't, and that's what's strange." Aerith said in thought. "I made no intention of bringing him here, and yet... he doesn't remember my death either."

"Well, as long as he's not trying to kill you again that's good right?" Demyx offered.

"Huh... I never thought of it that way. You're right." Aerith smiled. "Thanks Demyx."

Demyx found no better response than to smile and say "No problem! You're welcome!"

_-beep beep beep-_

Aerith looked to the source of the beeping, her wristwatch. "Aww, geeze, its that time already? I need to get back to Merlin's!"

"Now that you mention it, I probably should have reported back to Xigbar awhile ago..." Demyx mumbled.

"Well, I guess we should be going then..." Aerith said, her voice saddened. "...Demyx, will you come back tommorrow? You and Xigbar are here everyday, so I was wondering..."

"Uh, sure." Demyx said, surprised that the brunette was not annoyed by his prescence by now. "Same time?"

"You know it!" Aerith smiled, picking up her basket of flowers. "You'd better leave. I can be late getting home, but you're going to lectured beyond belief if you don't get back now."

"Heh, you're right. Later!"

Demyx was nearly out the door when Aerith called back to him. "Hold on!"

He studied her face. Whatever she had stopped him for was no laughing matter. "When I erased my friends memroies... I changed the memory of my name too. My name isn't really Aerith."

"Then... what is it?"

Aerith walked up to him and handed him a small slip of paper. "It isn't safe to say aloud. If someone hears it, it may bring the old memories back."

Demyx looked at the paper, then back to the Ancient. "OK, I gotcha! I won't say it!"

Aerith released a breath she didn't know she was holding. "...Thank you."

"Like I said, no problem!" Demyx laughed, giving a cheesy grin. He waved her goodbye and headed back to his and Xigbar's hiding place. Yeah, he knew he was going to get yelled at for not checking in, but if he got to see her again, he found he didn't care. And should things get really bad, he could always blackmail the pirate-ninja-surfer reject with his more focused spying on Yuffie.

Demyx would have to tell _Aeris _about how Xiggy would react to that.

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**OK, I know I'm not the only one who's asked why Aeris is both alive and named Aerith in KH... right?**


	3. Never Forgotten

**...This story is in two more C2s... I'm getting sort of scared now... meep...**

_"Special Ed" is (c) to Steven Lynch  
The Litte Mermaid and Finding Nemo are (c) to Disney_

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_...To retreat into memories is a well known, as well as wanted..._

_...But to tell someone which memory you wish to live in... is not something easily done... _

_...Although... memories of a past life... may not be so hard to share with one whom you trust..._

**_xXxXxXxXx_**

_-two weeks later-_

Feminine laughter rung through the church. "N-No way...!"

"I swear, that's how it goes!"

Demyx and Aeris had been meeting much more often in secrecy. The rest of the Commitee had raised an eyebrow at "Aerith's" constant outings, but in respecting her privacy, didn't say anything. And Demyx found that Xigbar didn't really care what his subordinate did, as he came back with food.

It was that food that was supposed to be Xigbar's that the two water elementals were eating and having an enjoyable conversation over, sitting in one of the old pews. Demyx was just teling his friend about an odd song he heard once, and Aeris was trying not to do a spit-take.

"And then it goes right back into the chorus!" Demyx continued. "_Special Ed, his momma dropped him, dropped him on his head, and now he thinks he's a slice of bread, 'cause he's little bit special_!"

Aeris couldn't hold it in any longer and spat out what she had just eaten to the side, holding her stomach from the pain. "O-Oh... That's _rich_!"

"Heh heh... sorry 'bout that..." Demyx said handing her a napkin. Aeris gladly took it and wiped her mouth, still giggling.

"Oh, thanks.. where do you find this stuff?"

"Internet, my dear Aeris, the Internet." Demyx replied. "OK, I told you something funny I knew. Your turn."

"Ah... sorry. I'm afriad I don't know of anything particulary funny."

"C'monnn! There has to be something!"

"Well... I wasn't going to tell anyone this but..." Aeris leaned him and whispered something in Demyx's ear, causing such an outburst of laughter that he fell off his seat and started rowling on the floor.

"Cloud?! _Cross-dressing_?!" he cried. "That is _awesome_!"

Aeris started laughing again as well. "Yes..! Of course, that's something I would have liked to have forgotten as well!"

"The fact that he cross-dressed?"

"No- the fact that he didn't look half bad."

And yet another howl of laught came from our dear Nocturne. This time, however, he seated himself on the floor right next to Aeris, leaning back against the wooden pew. Both of them let out loose, contented sighs.

It was quiet for a moment while both of them just relaxed in the other's prescence. Demyx had never expierenced something like this before. As said before, he had accepted the "fact" that Nobodies do not have hearts, but what of Aeris? Here she was, a being composed of water and also not meant to exist, and yet did she not have a heart?

...Good question.

Demyx's eyes widened as he realized his own stupidity. How could the subject of hearts have not come up durning the time when Aeris explained her situation, or at all during the past two weeks?

"...Aeris?"

"Hm?"

"Do you... do you have a heart?"

Aeris paused for a moment, then smiled. "Well, there's the question of the century." she joked. "But now that you bring it up, I'm not all that sure if I do. I mean... if I have my heart, great. Yipee for me. But if I don't..."

"Its in Kingdom Hearts." Demyx finished.

Aeris sighed. "That's probably true, but I don't like to think that way."

Demyx eyed her. "What do you like to think then?"

"I like to think that my heart stayed behind on Gaia in the Life Stream, watching over my mother and all the friends I left behind. I think that way... they've never truly forgotten me."

Demyx examined Aeris' face. Her lips curved into a smile that overwhelmed in knowlegde, and her eyes showed a longing love that needed to be given. It reminded him so much of _her_ eyes...

"...Never forgotten..." he mumbled. "I wonder if she forgot him..."

Aeris blinked. "If who remembers who?"

Demyx looked her in the eyes, a serious yet saddened tone to his voice. "If Evadne remembers Edym."

**_XxXxXxXxX_**

_"C'mon, Edy, its boring here, let's go. Maybe Nemo's back from school early."_

_"..."_

_"Edym?"_

_"..."_

_"EDYM!"_

_"Wha?! Oh, sorry sis!"_

_Edym was a young merman, his tail the same shade of blue-green as his eyes, and his blonde braided hair flowing gently in tune to the waves. Next to him was a slightly younger mermaid. Her curly blonde hair was tied in the back with a sea star clip, and her tail was the color of the sky at midnight, also matching her eyes._

_"Edym, you have to learn to pay attention!" scolded the girl. "One of these days a current's gonna to snatch you up and send you into the next ocean!"_

_"Right Evadne, right..." Edym replied causually. He may have been 3 years older, but **man** was his sister pushy._

_The two had been exploring_ _the grottos outside of Atlantica, bored out of their minds. They couldn't go into the castle and visit Ariel- Sebastion had been taking her vocal training to an all time high lately and she was not allowed to leave or have any visitors that would distract her studies. The tiny clownfish Nemo was at school, his father Marlin was more boring than Sebastion himself, and Dory was... well, Dory. There was Nemo's friends, the Tank Gang, from that "dentist" place in Austrailia, but most of them had never been in the ocean, and the siblings were in no mood to play teacher._

_"...Maybe we stop by the EAC and visit Crush and Squirt...?" Edym asked hopefully as they began to swim back._

_"No. We are not going back there. That place is evil." his sister replied harshly. Ever since that incident where she was flung out of the current and into the jellyfish forest, Evadne had issues with the EAC._

_"Oh, come on, Eva, it would at least give us something to do..." the merman whined. But his sister would not budge. "...Fine. Have it your way."_

_"...Hey, what about that thing?"_

_"What thing?"_

_"Don't give me that, Edy." Evadne smirked. "That thing Ariel gave you from her grotto."_

_Edym suddenly jerked to a stop, panic covering his face. "How'd you...?!"_

_"Dory remembers the oddest things at the oddest times, dear brother..." Evadne was clearly enjoying herself. "Now would you care to show me?"_

_By the lost city of Atlantis, his sister was good! Edym would have to comply. "...Alright. But don't tell ANYONE." His sister gave a salute, and Edym swam back to the grottos._

_They came to one in the back, the one with a small opening but was quite large once inside. It was also fairly dark, which_ _helped Edym hide his special something. His hands wandered around for a bit, unti he finally grabbed what he was searching for; a long piece of wood with a hollow, almost gourd shaped bottom. Strings were tied from top to bottom, and made sounds when Evadne plucked them. "What is it Edy?"_

_Edym grew a wide smile. "Welllll... Scuttle said it was something called a "roffelcopter"... but you know... its **Scuttle**."_

_"Of course."_

_"So, I let Gill see it, right, 'cause, let's face it, Gill knows everything." Edym continued. "He said is was a musical instrument called a 'sitar'. He even said he'd teach me how to play it!"_

_Edym's excitement was well-known to be contagious. "Did he?" his siter asked, shaking with anticipation._

_"Yup! Here's, listen..."_

_All time seemed to stand still as Edym played. It was a soothing melody that seemed to stop all water movement. The coral sang out to the tune, one brushing against the other making musice along side the gentle plucking of the strings. The grotto appeared to light up in joy, then drop down into darkness in sadness, and so on and so forth. It didn't take long for Evadne to regocnize the song._

_"The lullaby..." she gasped._

_"...Yeah." Edym said. "The one Mom used to sing to us."_

_Edym and Evadne's family history was well known. Their father Emile was a favored guard in King Triton's army, and their mother Eadoin was one of the most beautiful mermaids in the royal choir. Emile died in protecting Altantica from the atack of the evil sea witch Ursula, leaving Eadoin, a young Edym and a baby Evadne behind. Things went well for the family, the wounds of the battle had healed and all would hopefully be normal... that was, until the Red Sea. The Red Sea was a disease that spread through the oceans so fast nothing could be done. Before anyone could react, Eadoin, too, was gone, but her children kept the memory of her song alive and well._

_After a moment of silence, Edym spoke again. "That's... why I wanted to learn... I want to remember Mom and Dad and everything they did so that we'd be here... I dont want their memory to die out in vain..."_

_Evadne stared at her brother. Sure, he was a fun loving goof-off, rarely did his homework in school, and never brushed his teeth unless you told him he wasn't going to eat dinner if he didn't, but Edym had his serious moments. All of them were about his family. He loved his family more than anything in the world, and Evadne knew this to be true. When Ariel first showed them her collection of human items, Edym was worried Evadne would catch on to the red-head's actions and get herself hurt. She saw it at first as being over-protective, but knowing what their already pactched family had been through, Evadne saw her brother had a right to be._

_She swam over to his side, sitting down next to him when he suddenly went silent. "...Edym?"_

_Edym circled his arms around his sister in a tight hug, resting his head on hers. "Evadne... please don't ever do anything dangerous. I don't want to lose you."_

_There was a hidden tinge of saddness to his voice, so the younger hugged him as well. "Only if you do the same."_

_Evadne felt a small drop of water atop her head. "Of course. Big brother loves you."_

**_XxXxXxXxX_**

Demyx was a Nobody.

A very sad looking Nobody.

Aeris noticed.

Without a second thought, Aeris had rested the Nobody's head in her lap, as silent, crystal tears flowed from his eyes, staining her dress. Aeris stroked his cropped hair gently as though her were a abandoned kitten that she and found and was beggining to raise.

"...I... I miss her..." Demyx said. "I miss my sister... I miss my home... I miss my friends... its not fair..."

"Shh..." Aeris cooed, still stroking his locks. "Its OK.."

But it wasn't. The memories came back to him, flodding his mind with images of warmth and love and all the other things Demyx might never have again. "I... want my heart back... I want it back so I can go back home... I want my sister to known I'm OK... and we can be a family again..."

Aeris' stroking hand slowly came to a stop, causing Demyx to perk his head up. He was met with a gaze that seemed to be in the verge of tears.

"Demyx... I.. I want to go home too..." she whispered. "I miss my mother terribly, both of them... and not all of my friends are here... I could only bring so many..."

The Nocturne slowly rose and sat next to the Ancient, and most likely on Edym's impluse, embraced her. Aeris slowly returned the gesture, burying her face into the black leather of his coat. They stayed like that for a long time, both trying desperately to hear the others heart beats as well as their own, but to no avail.

Finally, Aeris spoke.

She moved her head out of his chest and looked him in the eyes, her hands tracing a small line in his cheek left by his tears. "Demyx... I want you to meet them."

"Meet who?"

"My friends. I want you to meet them. ...Tommorrow."

"What?!"

* * *

**I know the whole "Demyx is a merman" thing is overdone, but it was the most developed idea I had for him! It was either that, or he would have been a band leader from Traverse Town, or a Demi-God from Olympus, both of which had no back story to them! (...Ha, _Demi_-God...) But seriously, that had to be one of the most, depressing, angsty, and romantic things I've ever written. These things happen once in a blue moon, so I hope you liked it.**

**As for Edym and his family... I have a thing for E names right now... but I feel so bad about his history... I just see numbers 7-12 of the Organization having tragic past lives... but what I did is still unexcusable... ohhhh, what have I done?**


	4. Pirates, Cookies, and Birthdays

**TWO MORE C2s? I'm really starting to get scared here, guys!**

**...I'm sure you're all at least somewhat wondering what I had planned for Xigbar and Yuffie... and here it is... yes, I am aware this is total jail bait... so cracky I could sell it on the streets, I know...**

**Happy Xigbar/International Talk Like A Pirate Day! (Yes, I'm making today his birthday)**

* * *

_...The past is a hard thing to face..._

_...Having to head into a land you once knew and left is one of life's greatest challenges... _

_...But... what if you didn't find your past... but rather your past found you?..._

**_xXxXxXxXx_**

Xigbar was bored. Not any different than any other day, but this time, he was really bored. Demyx had yet to report back, and to make matters worse, he hadn't seen Ninja around at all, lately. That cute girl had been his source of entertainment for some time- anything she did always seemed more amusing than anything anyone else did.

Now, before we continue, let the authoress make something clear. Xigbar is portrayed as many a thing in the eyes of his fans- he's a pirate, he's a surfer, he's a ninja, he's been recently called a defense attorney that matches if not exceeds the abilities of the great Phoenix Wright- but if there is one thing he is not, it is old. At the absolute most, there was a seven year difference between him and Ninja, so, despite realizing the total crackiness of the situation, the authoress does not want to hear anything about Xigbar being a child molester. She is sure that all readers are mature enough to not make that assumption.

Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes, Xigbar, bored. Very good, proceed.

"Jeeze... what's takin' 'im so long...?" he spoke aloud. "Must be sight seein'... Guess it wouldn't hurt too much if I gave him a lil' somethin' ta worry about..." A small grin came to his face as he jumped off the roof he previously occupied and left for the square.

But therein lied the tragedy; Xigbar knew where and what everything was. He knew what all the stores sold (and with that knowledge he knew there was nothing he wanted, just shields and wands), he knew the local cuisine, and some of the adults looked very familiar to him as well. They were probably still kids when Braig was alive, their faces now imprinted into the Freeshooter's memory. Nothing could surprise him here...

"DUDE LOOK OUT!"

...except Ninja falling out of the sky and landing on top of him.

The next thing Xigbar's face knew was the asphalt as Ninja scrambled to her feet, where it was then introduced to the bottom of her shoe. She stood straight up and pointed above to a wooden beam. Even from below, one could tell it was rotting, which explained why Ninja's weight caused a gaping hole in it making her fall. "Curse you, you refined piece of tree bark! Destroy my shortcut, will you?! I'll see you turned into sawdust if its the last thing I do!"

"'Ey, ya mind gettin' off ma face?" Xigbar mamaged to say.

"Eh...? Well, its yer own fault for not moving in time!" Ninja said, jumping off him and sticking out her tounge. "You OK, old dude?"

"I'm not old." Xigbar growled, standing up. "And I'm fine."

"Really? You look like any old dude ta me..." Ninja shrugged. "Ah well, later!" She readied herself to sprint away, when a strong grip came to her arm

"Whoa-ho, just where do you think yer going?!" Xigbar said. "You just made me eat the sidewalk. Don't tell me you don't intend on making it up ta me."

Ninja sighed. "Man, you're whiney... well, I suppose I can part with one..." She rumaged through her pockets, and pulled out a plastic bag of crisp, freshly baked heart-shaped sugar cookies... and Xigbar's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Little known fact about Xigbar; he liked things sweet. Not just "two-sugars-in-his-coffee" sweet, more like "the-whole-dang-sugar-bowl-in-his-mouth" sweet. A total sugar addict if one ever existed or non-existed. Anything he ate had to cause a cavity or two, and sugar cookies were no exception. As his hand reached out for the entire bag, Ninja raised it above her head and out of his reach.

"Nuh-uh. Only one, dude." she scolded, handing him the sole cookie.

Xigbar let out a humph, but took the cookie regardless. "One cookie isn't as great a payment as an entire bag, ya'know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but you can't have these." Ninja repeated. Her eyes wandered off into the distance. "They're for... a old friend, I guess you could say." She noticed Xigbar's eyeing her, then said with her normal perky attitude, "Nevermind. 'S not important. You just enjoy that cookie, old dude. And be sure to tell your buds that it was made by the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

And then she ran off.

And yet, there was something about her name that just stuck in Xigbar's mind as he took a bite from the cookie. Yuffie... Yuffie... where had he heard that name before? He knew who she was, he knew it! But... when, and in what sense?

He decided then in all his Nobody wisdom that the best thing to do would be to follow Miss Ninja and figure it out from there. Besides, it gave him something to do. That's always good, right?

_-half an hour later-_

Indeed it was. Xigbar had followed Yuffie to places he himself might have gone earlier. Candy stores, pastries, that place were you could get caramel popcorn in a giant tin can... all of Braig's favorite places when alive. (Xigbar actually bought things from each place ten minutes after Yuffie left them as to not raise suspicion, yet making it hard to keep up, but the sweets were totally worth it).

But this was why he then found it strange when Yuffie sudden;y decided to visit a graveyard. She gave her regards to the curator, then made her way happily past the tombstones, Xigbar hiding in the trees after her. She finally stopped at a set of graves at the top of a small hill, kneeling before one in particular. This one was second in a line of six identical ones, which the Freeshooter also saw as disturbingly familiar.

"Hi, its me again!" she said to the buried person. "Well, I know, its not like I don't come here everyday, but today _is_ your birthday after all. I had to make it special!" She rumaged through her bags, pulling out the candies and sweets she had previously bought. "See! I got ya all those sweets you used to like... I even made my own batch of cookies!" Yuffie presented to bag to the grave. "...You know, you were that first person to ever try them. Yeah, I know I said Squally tried them too, but dude, I was seven! Of course I was gonna lie!"

Xigbar suddenly found himself slowly drawing that same cookie he had been eating before away from his mouth. (A/N: Yes, he still has that one cookie after half an hour.)

"You probably knew I was lying too. But you still ate it and liked it anyway. I was so happy..." Yuffie's words slowed and she grew silent. Xigbar's fingers idly drummed his knee as he waited for her to continue.

"...You know, I never got rid of them."

Xigbar's interest was caught as Yuffie returned to the bag at her side and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, the left lense popped out. "I kept them just the way you liked them... you always looked so cool when you wore them... yet strangely enough you never wore them on National Talk Like Pirate Day... so I guess I have to wear them for you today." She said, setting the eyewear on her face. "I can't pull of the look like you did, but still, I think they look good, don't you?" She threw her head back and gave a wink, before bursting into a fit of giggles.

Now the Freeshooter knew something was up. How in the name of darkness did she get _those_?! She wasn't supposed to have them! They were supposed to be safely buried with their original owner! But then, it was sort of odd that this one grave was but the second of six...

And lo, there stood his answer. Xigbar was shocked at his own stupidity. The glasses, the cookies, the date... how could he forget?

**_XxXxX_**

_Braig wandered around aimlessly, as he often did whenever he was free from work. He had stopped by each of his favorite candy stores, and the owners had given him their regards, but not one had the sweets he liked. Aparently they had all been sold for International Talk Like A Pirate Day._

_He never did like that holiday, and not just because he couldn't eat candy. No, everyone wanted him to dress up like a pirate, because he looked like could pull it off. "Oh Braig, Dilan and Ienzo are doing it, why aren't you?" It was things like that. Not to mention, the day of this cursed holiday was his birthday, and when choosing between a scientist and pirates, most people choose to remember the pirates._

_This was why he now found it odd that this little girl had walked up to him. She was wearing a bright pink apron which covered her tiny school uniform, and she herself was covered in flour and batter and colored sugar. She meekly opened her backpack and pulled out a brown paper bag, which she then presented to him without a word. Confused, Braig took the bag and opened it, pulling out a rather large sugar cookie, seemingly shaped like a heart. He looked back at the girl, who laughed and said to him words he always remembered._

_"Happy birthday, Mister Braig."_

_**XxXxX**_

_It had been two years, and Braig had not seen the girl since. It was a rainy November day, and he had been asked by Even to retrieve some papers he had forgotten. That Even... what a scatter-brain. The nut wouldn't even remember pants if the situation presented itself (which it had, many a time before)._

_Braig was now returning home, but decided to take the scenic route through the housing complex. It was quiet and dark, only the pitter-patter of the rain on his umbrella and the ground to be heard._

_And then, came the cry._

_"WAAAAAAH!"_

_Braig nearly dropped everything when he heard that scream from the alley. He dashed over from across the street, and saw her again._

_She was dripping wet, soaked to the bone, and any other lovely euphanism you could think of for being wet. She sat flat on the ground, crying her eyes out. She must have gotten stuck in the rain and lost her way home, Braig thought._ _She hadn't even noticed his presense until he squatted down next to her, gave her his umbrella, and then picked her up to take her home._

_And she found no better way to thank him than to sob more into his shoulder, making it wet beyond repair._

_Once he had taken her home and set her done on the porch, he pulled out his favorite pair of glasses, the ones with the left lense popped out. He wore them all the time, except on his birthday since people thought it to look like an eyepatch. He unfolded the sides, placed them on top of the little one's head, and walked off with s smile._

_**XxXxX**_

Xigbar didn't now how long he had been caught up in his own memories, but the sun was now setting. He turned back to Yuffie. She appeared to be ready to leave, but before she did, she crouched back down and kissed Braig's tombstone. "Happy Birthday Mister Braig..." she whispered. Leaving the sweets behind, she began her trek back home.

And this time, Xigbar would't forget her words.

* * *

**There ya go! XigYuffie fluff for the day of piracy! Enjoy!**


End file.
